Flexible film bag with tear strip for closure

ABSTRACT

A roll of separable bags for being sequentially dispensed from a carton comprising a two-ply strip of plastic film material having closed sides and heat seals and perforations for separating the strip into discrete bags. Extra heat seals and perforations are provided for conveniently packaging with the bags suitable ties or closure bands which may be colored and reinforced.

Unite States Patent Simon 1 July4, 1972 [54] FLEXIBLE FILM BAG WITH TEAR211 Appl. No.: 61,319

[52] US. Cl ..206/58, 229/62 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d 33/16, B65h 55/00 [58]Field of Search ..206/56 AB, 57 A, 58,59 F, 206/DIG. 29; 229/17 RS, 65,51 TS, 51 AS, 66, 69, 62; 150/3 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 3,162,539 12/1964 Repko ..206/58 3,107,842 10/1963 Guilfoyle.....229/62 3,186,626 6/1965 Shvetz ..229/62 2,430,995 11/1947 Roos..206/56 AB UX 3,162,539 12/1964 Repko ..206/56 AB X 3,411,698 11/1968Reynolds ..206/58 UX 3,510,054 5/1970 Sanni et al. ..229/66 3,405,86110/1968 Bush ..229/51 AS 3,160,273 12/1964 Reuther et al.... ..206/56 AB3,519,193 7/1970 Palmer 229/51 AS 3,204,760 9/1965 Whiteford 229/53 UX2,743,009 4/1956 Williamson et al. ..206/58 Primary ExaminerWilliam T.Dixson, Jr.

Assistant Examiner-Steven E. Lipman Attorney-Herbert S. Sylvester,Murray M. Grill, Norman Blumenkopf, Ronald S. Cornell, Thomas J. Corum,Richard N. Miller and Robert L. Stone [5 7] ABSTRACT A roll of separablebags for being sequentially dispensed from a carton comprising a two-plystrip of plastic film material having closed sides and heat seals andperforations for separating the strip into discrete bags. Extra heatseals and perforations are provided for conveniently packaging with thebags suitable ties or closure bands which may be colored and reinforced.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures FLEXIBLE FILM BAG WITH TEAR STRIP FORCLOSURE This invention relates to the art of packaging and moreparticularly to an arrangement which incorporates with a roll ofseparable bags tear strips for use as closure bands for sealing theindividual flexible film bags sequentially dispensed from the roll.

Various packages for dispensing individual flexible film bags from aroll of separable bags have been devised. Further, there have been manydevices used for sealing flexible bags, as for example, the paper wirelaminated strip which is tied about the open end of the bag. However,the consumer has been required to either obtain closures for theflexible bags separately from the roll of bags or to use one of a groupof closures packaged with the roll, but manufactured separately atadditional cost. Since a number of such closure devices are required inactual practice, the seals for the flexible bags when dispensed from aroll thereof may have been misplaced or are generally inconvenient orunavailable to the consumer at the time of need. In those instances whenclosure bands are provided and including in the package of the bags,such closure bands are subject to becoming misplaced and therefore arenot always available when needed.

The concept of the present invention is to incorporate a tear stripbetween or along side each bag or every several bags as integral partsof the roll of bags so that they may be conveniently manufactured withthe bags and are maintained in a readily available state, whilerigidifying and strengthening the roll of bags. Further, the tear stripsfacilitate the separation and dispensing of the individual bags andreduce the overall cost of providing to the public both the bags and theclosure bands.

An object of the present invention is to provide a roll of bags havingincorporated therein closure bands between each individual flexible filmbag in the form of tear strips which facilitate the separation of thebags and which may be separately colored or marked to indicate thelocation where the bags may be conveniently separated.

A further object of the invention is to provide a colored closure bandfor making the locations marked for conveniently separating individualflexible film bags from a roll thereof with the colored bands being inthe form of tear strips adapted to be used for closure of and sealing ofthe bags.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a closure bandwhich has saw tooth or other irregular-size perforations at the sidesthereof for preventing slipping of the closure band when tied about aflexible film bag.

In the various types of rolls of individual flexible film bags, thehandling of this material has been somewhat inconvenient to the consumerbecause the flexible film material from which the bags are formed isvery light in weight and rather difficult to manipulate. The presentinvention overcomes this disadvantage by providing reinforced andrelatively more rigid areas which further define the contours of theindividual bags.

Still further objects and features of this invention reside in theprovision of a roll of bags having integral tear strips for formingclosure bands which is simple to manufacture and inexpensive to produce,capable of having metal, wire, string, or other deformable materialincluded or laminated thereto for reinforcing the closure bands and theroll of material, wherein the tear strip and closure band can be madesimultaneously with other operations performed on the film material, andwhich is especially convenient for the consumer to use.

These, together with the various ancillary objects and features of thepresent invention, which will become apparent as the followingdescription proceeds, are attained by this flexible film bag with tearstrip for closure, preferred embodiments of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, by way of example only, wherein: I

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a package incorporating theconcepts of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a portion of a roll of flexible film bagsshowing the tear strips for forming the closure bands at the sides ofthe bags;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of one of the closure bands;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but illustrating an arrangementwherein the tear strips for forming the closure bands are disposedbetween the top and bottom of adjacent bags;

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of a modified fOrm of tear strip employingsaw tooth perforations; and,

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along the plane of line 6-6 inFIG. 5.

With continuing reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein likereference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views,reference numeral 10 generally designates a package constructed inaccordance with the concepts of the present invention, which includes acarton, generally indicated at 12, and of the type disclosed in US. Pat.No. 2,743,009, to Marshall I. Williamson, for Article Supporting andContaining Cartons," issued Apr. 24, 1956. Other similar type cartonsmay be employed and the carton 12 is of a generally box shape havingfront and rear walls 14, and end wall 16, a bottom, not shown, end flaps18, a top 20, and top flaps 22. A roll, generally indicated at 24 offlexible bags which are provided with means for dividing the roll intoindividual flexible film bags is disposed in the carton for thesequential dispensing of the individual flexible film bags. The flexiblefilm bags may be of the type made from an extruded tubular film, withplies of flat sheets of film secured along the sides or out of a singleelongated sheet which is folded substantially along the middle thereofto form one side and with the abutting edges being heat sealed along theother side.

Each of the individual bags 26 have transverse heat seals 28 extendingnormal to the sides of the bags and form the bottom of the bags.Perforations adjacent the heat seals 28, and indicated at 30 areprovided for separating the bags 26 and form the bag openings 32. Iftheroll is formed from extruded tubular film no heat seals are necessary toseal the sides 34 and 36 of the bags. However, one or more heat sealsare indicated at 38 in the form of an elongated heat seal running thelength of the roll, may be provided when the bags are formed of twoplies of flexible material or of a sheet folded to form the side 36.

In accordance with the present invention an additional elongated heatseal 40 is formed along the side adjacent but spaced from the heat seal38. Perforations 42 extend substantially parallel with the heat seals 38and 40 and are provided for enabling detachment of the tear strip 44from the bag 26. The tear strip 44 is reinforced by heat seal 40 andmay, of course, be further reinforced by additional heat seals or by theapplication of separate strengthening materials such as string,deformable metal, or another play of film material which may be bonded,laminated to or between the plies of which the tear strip 44 isconstructed.

In FIG. 4 there is shown another form of the invention wherein the bag50 has transverse heat seals 52 for forming the bottom of the bag andperforations 54 closely spaced to the heat seal 52 for separating thebag from a tear strip 56 which is separable from the next adjacent bag50 by means of perforations as at 58. Between the perforations 54 and 58is one or more heat seals 60, and the perforations 54 and 58 define atear strip 62 for forming a closure band. Further, the perforations 58enable the separation of the next bag adjacent the open front 64thereof. It is to be noted that the tear strip 62 may be coloredseparately from that of the rest of the bags for facilitating the visualobservation by the user at the point where the bags should be separated.When the bags are of a considerable size, and strips, such as tear strip44, is of an elongated length, it may be provided or one or more oftransverse perforations 46 for dividing the closure bands into smallersections for further use (FIG. 3).

In FIG. 5 there is shown an arrangement wherein the closure band 70 isformed with perforations 72 ad 74 which are irregular in shape,preferably of a saw tooth configuration, for anti-slip engagement with aportion of the bag about which it is tied. Further, embedded between theplies 76 and 78 of the material forming the tear strip 70 may be a layerof metal 80 or other deformable material, such as string, wire, or thelike.

A latitude of modification, substitution and change is intended in theforegoing disclosure, and in some instances, some features of thepresent invention may be employed without a corresponding use of otherfeatures.

I claim:

1. A roll of separable bags sequentially dispensed from a cartoncomprising a two-ply strip of plastic film material, means joining saidplies together along the sides of said strip, a series of spaced heatseals joining said two plies and extending transverse of said strip todefine the bottom of a film bag, a series of spaced perforations closelyadjacent said series of heat seals for separating sections of said stripto define the open top of a film bag, said means including two spacedparallel heat seals adjacent one side of said bag, and furtherperforations between said two heat seals to form closure bands removablefrom said film bag.

2. A roll of bags according to claim 1, including elongated pieces ofdeformable material secured to said closure bands between said twoplies.

3. A roll of bags according to claim 1, wherein said closure bands arecolored separately from said bags.

4. A roll of separable bags for being sequentially dispensed from acarton comprising a two-ply strip of plastic film material, meansjoining said plies together along the sides of said strip, a series ofpairs of spaced heat seals joining said two plies and extendingtransverse of said strip, one of each of said pairs of spaced heat sealsdefining the bottom of a film bag, a series of pairs of spacedperforations closely adjacent said series of pairs of heat seals forseparating sections of said strip to define the open top of a film bagand to separate closure bands defined by each said pair of spacedperforations.

5. A roll of bags according to claim 4, wherein said perforations areirregular in shape for grasping the material about which a closure bandis tied.

6. A roll of bags according to claim 5, wherein said closure bands are'colored distinctly from said bags, deformable pieces of material beingsecured to said closure bands.

1. A roll of separable bags sequentially dispensed from a cartoncomprising a two-ply strip of plastic film material, means joining saidplies together along the sides of said strip, a series of spaced heatseals joining said two plies and extending transverse of said strip todefine the bottom of a film bag, a series of spaced perforations closelyadjacent said series of heat seals for separating sections of said stripto define the open top of a film bag, said means including two spacedparallel heat seals adjacent one side of said bag, and furtherperforations between said two heat seals to form closure bands removablefrom said film bag.
 2. A roll of bags according to claim 1, includingelongated pieces of deformable material secured to said closure bandsbetween said two plies.
 3. A roll of bags according to claim 1, whereinsaid closure bands are colored separately from said bags.
 4. A roll ofseparable bags for being sequentially dispensed from a carton comprisinga two-ply strip of plastic film material, means joining said pliestogether along the sides of said strip, a series of pairs of spaced heatseals joining said two plies and extending transverse of said strip, oneof each of said pairs of spaced heat seals defining the bottom of a filmbag, a series of pairs of spaced perforations closely adjacent saidseries of pairs of heat seals for separating sections of said strip todefine the open top of a film bag and to separate closure bands definedby each said pair of spaced perforations.
 5. A roll of bags according toclaim 4, wherein said perforations are irregular in shape for graspingthe material about which a closure band is tied.
 6. A roll of bagsaccording to claim 5, wherein said closure bands are coloRed distinctlyfrom said bags, deformable pieces of material being secured to saidclosure bands.